Regina, SK (Sports Network) - Darian Durant threw for 371 yards and
three touchdowns as he helped guide the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a
thrilling 27-21 win over the British Columbia Lions at Mosaic Stadium.

Weston Dressler, a five year vet in the CFL, entered the game never having
registered a receiving touchdown against the Lions and ended up with two in
the first half as the Roughriders (7-6) registered their second straight win
and the fourth in the last five outings. Durant converted 26-of-34 passes,
with nine of those completions going to Dressler who finished with a game-high
160 yards.

Travis Lulay waited until the final minutes to extend his consecutive games
streak with a touchdown pass to 24 in a row, finishing with a pair to Marco
Iannuzzi, but it wasn't enough as the Lions (9-4) saw their three-game win
streak come to an end. Lulay finished 19-of-36 for 232 yards, but was also
guilty of two interceptions, the second of which came in the final moments to
halt any comeback bid for the visitors.

Following a scoreless first quarter, during which Geroy Simon extended his
streak for consecutive games with a reception to 172, the hosts struck first
when Durant found Dressler all alone in the corner of the end zone for a 13-
yard TD strike.

With Dressler finally having broken the ice against BC, Durant again looked
for him on the next possession for the Riders and found the slotback for a
lengthy 53-yard TD down the right side to make the score 14-0. At that point
Dressler had five catches for more than 100 yards with still more than 11
minutes remaining in the first half.

Yet another drive by British Columbia was halted by the Saskatchewan defense,
leaving Paul McCallum to register the first points of the night for the
visitors with a single just over six minutes into the second frame.

Dressler appeared to notch his third TD catch of the night with just over five
minutes remaining in the first half, but the play was called back because the
offense was off-sides. Instead, the Riders had to settle for a 30-yard field
goal by Sandro DeAngelis to boost the lead to 17-1.

Later in the frame Chris Milo tallied a single for Saskatchewan, giving the
hosts an 18-1 advantage at the break, the most points given up by the Lions in
the first half this season.

When the second half began it was announced that both Simon and Arland Bruce
would not return for the Lions due to injury, making it that much harder for
Lulay to navigate through the Saskatchewan defense.

The Lions managed to move the ball a bit in the third quarter, but the squad
was still kept out of the end zone and had to settle for a pair of field goals
(40 and 20 yards) by McCallum. In between those successful kicks, Milo added
another single for the Riders to make the score 19-7 after 45 minutes of
action.

The Riders extended the lead to 13 points early in the fourth quarter thanks
to another single by Milo.

It wasn't until there was 2:57 remaining in the game that Lulay was able to
get the Lions into the end zone, finding Iannuzzi with a 23-yard throw to make
the score 20-14 following a successful PAT.

On the ensuing possession Saskatchewan took advantage of a free play, as the
Lions jumped early, and Durant made them pay as he whipped a 46-yard
touchdown pass down the middle to a leaping Greg Carr at the goal line to give
the hosts a 27-14 edge.

Refusing to go away quietly, Lulay led the Lions on another lengthy drive as
time ticked away, resulting in a 15-yard touchdown pass to a diving Iannuzzi
in the end zone with 1:18 remaining. Once more the deficit was cut to just six
points.

The Lions set up for an on-side kick and the team's prayers were answered as
Chris McKenzie failed to secure the ball and it went out of bounds, resulting
in another series for the visitors.

Lulay and the offense took possession near mid-field and first tried for a
deep pass down the right side which went unanswered. The Lions then were
flagged for a procedure penalty which moved the ball back five yards. Another
deep pass failed to hit the mark and with 1:05 left in regulation Lulay let
fly with a desperation pass as he was hit, the ball being intercepted by
McKenzie to seal the win for the Roughriders.

Game Notes

For the 12th straight game the Lions failed to score a TD on their opening
drive and their one point in the first half was their lowest total in any
first half this season...Simon is second all-time behind Don Narcisse who set
the mark with 216 straight games with at least one catch...Lulay is second
all-time in consecutive games with at least one passing touchdown, trailing
Sam Etcheverry who had a string of 34 straight games with a passing major
between 1954-56...Saskatchewan now owns a 92-81-4 edge in the all-time,
regular-season series dating back to 1954